Published in articles on: May 8, 2019

A Generation of Worshippers

by John Stockburger
YWAM Perth Staff
Humility & Hunger Band

/ Youth Hungering for Worship /

If we want to be the generation to bring the transforming power of God’s love to the nations, we need to begin by setting our eyes on Jesus in the place of worship. As we cultivate a hunger to encounter God’s presence and walk in humility as we follow Jesus, there is a release of God’s power and His transforming love in our lives.

Many of the pivotal moments that have marked my journey of faith have been in the place of worship. Worship has not only been a place where I encounter the presence of God, but one that has been a catalyst for transformation in my life. In a day and age where everyone is looking for an “experience,”I believe there’s a hidden well of truth to be discovered in the place of worship, and it might not be entirely what we are expecting.

Before my Discipleship Training School, I was leading worship at multiple city-wide youth gatherings each month. I had a huge platform to inﬂuence a younger generation and lead them into the presence of God, and yet a huge piece of the puzzle was missing. It felt empty and lacked connection. I remember leading worship one evening and watching a room burning with passion and love for Jesus and wondering, “Why don’t I feel this way?”

My heart longed for a real connection, and my curiosity led me to a friend who always expressed his love for Jesus in such a dynamic and beautiful way in the place of worship. The simplicity of our conversation profoundly marked my life in that moment.

“I look at Jesus”

That was it. Words spoken by a man of faith who intentionally chose to take his eyes off of the world and look at our Saviour. I left that night realising how broken I was and, in the place of repentance, I began to look at Jesus with new eyes.

The reality is that there is an entire generation of young people who are looking for more than what the world can offer, and they’re ﬁnding it. I remember leading worship at Global Youth Outreach in Manila in 2017, and weeping as I watched hundreds of young ﬁlipinos come to the front of the stadium and fall on their knees before Jesus. Or a time when I stood at the back of a prayer room with hundreds of ﬁery Koreans, crying out and interceding for the uniﬁcation of the Korean peninsula for 40 days. The point being, there’s a revelation of Jesus and a hunger arising in every continent that is bringing about incredible transformation and it’s all beginning in the place of worship.

Before going to Paris in 2018, I was told it was a city that was hardened to the Gospel. Stories of teams who had laboured for months and only seen one salvation painted a picture of a reality that I knew could only be broken by the power of Jesus. “There is no heart too hard,” was a simple chorus that was birthed when I ﬁrst began interceding for Paris and it became an anthem leading up to our trip. Over the course of our two weeks in Paris, a total of 40 people gave their lives to the Lord as we went out daily sharing the Gospel. People were being healed and lives were being transformed and I can’t help but look back and wonder if it had something to do with the times we spent every morning looking to our King.

When Jesus is at the centre of our worship, everything changes. I believe we’re living in a time where a younger generation of true worshippers are rising up. From stadiums to hidden prayer rooms, I’ve seen thousands of young people with a deep and unwavering passion for Jesus, willing to deny self and follow Him wherever He leads. This deep hunger for Jesus has the potential to release transformation that could inﬂuence nations and bring a greater measure of God’s Kingdom to earth. No heart is too hard and nothing can stand in the way of the transformational and redemptive love that is in Jesus.

This article was published in the
September 2018 edition of Westcoast News.